


Cedric

by Emu_Mosh_Veteran



Series: A Lottery of Consequences [4]
Category: Blaseball (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Drug Use, Gen, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26543359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emu_Mosh_Veteran/pseuds/Emu_Mosh_Veteran
Summary: Cedric Spliff ponders the answer to a question he's never had to think about before.
Series: A Lottery of Consequences [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924867
Kudos: 12





	Cedric

There were few things Cedric Spliff enjoyed more than a blunt after practice, and considering just how well they'd performed he figured he'd earned it. It was the Good Stuff, finally recovered from where those Lil Roadie pipsqueaks had stashed it when negotiating for that plane, and he relished the ebbing away of the tension he'd been carrying all day after just a few draws. Things had been tense a lot lately, now that he thought about it, making a face as he contemplated the source of it all. He tried to be a fairly easy going sort, if he was honest, and he sort of had to be with the amount of scams he ran around here. He couldn't simply get worked up if say Henry found out that he was selling 'artisanal S'mores' out back of the Concessions stand, or if Lang caught wind of the autograph racket he was pulling at a 7/11 over downtown. So overall, Cedric tried to take as cosmic a view of all this as he could. 

It was easy enough to do. Ever since he'd been signed on to the Garages, he'd been pretty happy with how it had all turned out, a team he loved to play for, friends he loved to hang out with, marks he loved to fleece. It was a far cry from the heady days of Rodeo Crime, curled up in a cattle car spooning with his Rodeo Crime Gang for warmth on those cold Nevada nights. It definitely made it easier not to think about those times and as a rule if Spliff didn't have to think about it, he wouldn't think about it. Not when it would harsh his buzz. Which was what all this this brouha about Jaylen threatened to do. He took another long drag on the blunt, letting the stress wash away in a haze of smoke.

Stress which promptly skyrocketed when said cause of it suddenly dropped down loudly into the bleachers behind him. "I thought that stuff was supposed to take the edge off, not make you shit yourself." A very pleased with themselves Jaylen Hotdogfingers quipped, smoke billowing from under Spliffs Bandana as he choked a bit in surprise.

"Ye'd shit yerself too if folks went creeping around ye like that." Cedric replied dryly, thumping his chest a little to help settle it some. "Something I can do for you, Miss Jaylen?"

"Nothing too important, actually, I was just hoping we could talk. Been trying to meet up with the new players, y'know, get to know people. Think we could do that?" Jaylen asked, leaning back and resting her legs on the bleachers in front of her.

Cedric, deep inside, really didn't want to have to give up his quiet time, not for this. But Jaylen had caught him at a time where he didn't really have an excuse not to, and if he was being really honest, while he may not have been raised well, he had been raised right and he knew it would have been rude to refuse Jaylen without good reason. "I think we could Miss Jaylen, I think we could." He said with a smile at her.

"Thanks Cedric, and please, just call me Jaylen, we're team mates after all." Jaylen smiled back, though it was obvious that she was making the effort to do so, which wasn't surprising to Cedric considering everything she had been going through.

"Just call me Spliff then Jaylen. So what did ye want to talk about then?" Spliff asked, taking a long puff on his blunt as the stress rose again. Something was twigging in the back of his mind, and he couldn't tell what, which was frustrating as hell.

"Honestly I'm not sure. Didn't think I'd get this far?" Jaylen laughed, shaking her head. "You came in after Shaquille, right?" Something in the tone of the question made Cedric itch, the hitter suddenly feeling a little defensive about it.

"Darn right," He said proudly, looking back at Jaylen almost in challenge. "Was sad to see the lad go, but hell, I ain't regretting getting the spot, best thing that ever happened to me, if ye ask me."

That stung, he could see it in the way the smile faltered as her eyes narrowed just a little. "Best thing huh. Even if you had to stand in the pile of another persons ashes? I can respect that, I guess. It's pretty ruthless though."

"Mmmhmm, almost as ruthless as shoving yer friend to one side just to have the spotlight again." It was casual, but there was an edge of anger in Spliffs voice now. He hadn't held well at all with what happened to Mike. He liked that kid, he was a good sort and hadn't deserved to get sidelined like that. Considering that no one (Except Arturo, and good luck trying to get info outta that clam) knew what had happened in the void, Cedric had started forming his own opinion about what . . . someone. . . might have bargained for in there. He snuffed out the blunt now, not wanting to waste it now that his stress was well and truly up.

"I never asked him to step aside." The returned pitcher was sullen as she spoke, biting off each word.

"And I guess we'll never know, will we? Unless maybe you aren't telling us something." The hitter returned, the politeness of the conversation gone now as what he said carried a harshness that bit right into Jaylen's chest and made her quail at the thought that. . . . that maybe she had made a bargain for her own life, at the expense of others. It made her angry, and it made her want to lash out.

"What, and you'd be so different? Crawling out onto the mound like a maggot through the flesh of the dead? You don't even have the void to give you an excuse, you just went and did it." Jaylen snarled this, and something in that snarl drove a spike of ice all the way up Cedric's spine.

He could smell smoke, and not the good kind.

"What, ye gonna bean me here Jaylen? Wait for a nice sunless day and watch yer friends sear me away in the flash of a solar beam?" He didn't turn to face her as he spoke. just closing his eyes and hoping it wasn't going to happen. It struck him then that really, this is what had been bugging him the whole time. He was afraid of Jaylen, of what she was doing. He knew somewhere deep inside that it wasn't her fault, but he'd had good friends go up in smoke, and he desperately wanted to lash out and hurt her back.

Jaylen reeled back at the batter's words, hand coming up to her face and feeling the heat, the smoke just gently roiling off her cheek. Something inside of her cracked at the realization of what she was doing, and leaned forward suddenly, lunch rushing up her throat and splattering across the concrete at her feet. She was dizzy then, her face in her hands. "Cedric. . I. . I'm sorry. . I didn't mean to . . "

Spliff just cut her off and sighed. "I know ye didn't kid, but ye gotta realize yer actions have consequences. People are dead and ye're the cause." He felt guilty now, but he pressed ahead as he meant to go on, wasn't really any point to stopping now. "Half the league is scared shitless of ye, the other half doesn't know whether to shell ye or try and bring some batter back. That's where we're at now. And all because some pack of fools thought it would be a good idea to see if ye were still as good a pitcher as ye were."

Jaylen didn't look up, instead squeezing her eyes shut as tears threatened to fall.

"I'm sorry about yer friend, Shaquille. I didn't know him, but I heard enough about him to know he was good people, and a good friend to the team. I really was said when it happened." Spliff said quietly, standing up and making his way to the steps to leave.

"And if we're being honest, ye and I both know it wasn't me ye were angry at when ye started asking about him."


End file.
